---
title: What is DevPod?
sidebar_label: What is DevPod?
---

DevPod is a tool used to create reproducible developer environments. Each developer environment runs in a separate container and is specified through a [devcontainer.json](https://containers.dev/). [DevPod providers](./managing-providers/what-are-providers) can create these containers on the local computer, any reachable remote machine, or in a public or private cloud. It's also possible to extend DevPod and write your own custom providers.

<figure>
  <img src="/docs/media/devpod-flow.gif" alt="DevPod Flow" />
  <figcaption>DevPod</figcaption>
</figure>

You can think of DevPod as the glue connecting your local IDE to a machine you want to use for development. So depending on your project's requirements, you can create a workspace locally on the computer, a powerful cloud machine, or a spare remote computer. Within DevPod, every workspace is managed the same way, which also makes it easy to switch between workspaces that might be hosted somewhere else.


<figure>
  <img src="/docs/media/devpod-architecture-2.png" alt="DevPod Architecture" />
  <figcaption>DevPod - Architecture</figcaption>
</figure>

## Why DevPod?

DevPod reuses the open [DevContainer standard](https://containers.dev/) to create a consistent developer experience no matter what backend you want to use.

<figure>
  <img src="/docs/media/codespaces-but.png" alt="What is DevPod" />
</figure>

Compared to hosted services such as Github Codespaces, JetBrains Spaces or Google Cloud Workstations, DevPod has the following advantages:
* **Cost savings**: DevPod is usually around 5-10 times cheaper than existing services with comparable feature sets, because it uses bare virtual machines and shuts down unused virtual machines automatically.
* **No vendor lock-in**: Choose whatever cloud provider suits you best, be it the cheapest one or the most powerful, DevPod supports all cloud providers. If you are tired of using a provider, change it with a single command.
* **Local development**: You get the same developer experience also locally, so you don't need to rely on a cloud provider at all.
* **Cross IDE support**: VS Code and the full JetBrains suite is supported, all others can be connected through simple SSH.
* **Client-only**: No need to install a server backend, DevPod runs solely on your computer.
* **Open-Source**: DevPod is 100% open-source and extensible. A provider doesn't exist? Just create your own.
* **Rich feature set**: DevPod already supports prebuilds, auto inactivity shutdown, git & docker credentials sync and many more features to come.
* **Desktop App**: DevPod comes with an easy-to-use desktop application that abstracts all the complexity away. If you want to build your own integration, DevPod offers a feature-rich CLI as well.
